Made a complete (250 data points) chart from the Watts->Speed thread

Aug 12, 12 8:29

Post #1 of 17 (10194 views)

I collected all the data from the "post your watts and speed from your last race" thread and made a new chart, since the last one was last updated on like page 3 of the thread.

Here's a chart mapping from watts/kg to speed in mph. Big thing to note is just how fast it is possible to go on 4W/kg, with the right equipment and setup.

Here's one going from raw watts to speed, which is more spread out, since tiny, skinny people can go really fast on relatively fewer watts, and bigger, barndoorish people like myself can put out a ton of watts but still not go fast:

Raw data is here, along with the more-interactive chart data:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ap-T5i2jNxCQdFB3djB2Tl9zWEdCN0p4VkxZdXJrTHc

STAC Zero Trainer - Zero noise, zero tire contact, zero moving parts. Suffer in Silence starting fall 2016

Last edited by: AHare: Aug 12, 12 8:37

Re: Made a complete (250 data points) chart from the Watts->Speed thread [AHare] [ In reply to ]

Aug 12, 12 8:35

Post #2 of 17 (10179 views)

cool, thanks.

Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

Re: Made a complete (250 data points) chart from the Watts->Speed thread [AHare] [ In reply to ]

Aug 12, 12 8:54

Post #3 of 17 (10135 views)

AHare wrote:

, skinny people can go really fast on relatively fewer watts,

This is exactly why body composition should be at the top of your list if you want to go fast. You can get as much benefit from losing those last five pounds as you would get from years of training

Re: Made a complete (250 data points) chart from the Watts->Speed thread [AHare] [ In reply to ]

Aug 12, 12 8:55

Post #4 of 17 (10134 views)

What's funny about this is that although there's obviously a correlation, there are huge variations: two people going about 26mph, one with less than 3.5 w/kg and one with nearly 5. Similarly people going 22-29 on the same w/kg.

Re: Made a complete (250 data points) chart from the Watts->Speed thread [AHare] [ In reply to ]

Aug 12, 12 11:10

Post #5 of 17 (10017 views)

Very cool - thanks! I guess race distance could impact the points significantly.

Interesting to note that no one is self reporting a speed lower than 18 mph save one point at < 2 W/KG. That means not a single rider with a split slower than 6:15 for the IM or 3:07 for 70.3 chimed in?

Re: Made a complete (250 data points) chart from the Watts->Speed thread [TheRhino] [ In reply to ]

Aug 12, 12 11:57

Post #6 of 17 (9971 views)

I'm not sure if race distance would change that much - if I generate 4W/kg for 10km, I should have about the same speed as if I generated it for 100km.

There would be some differences - more/less u-turns and corners, maybe latex tubes deflating slightly, rider fatigue degrading your position, but in general efficiency should be about constant as distance increases.

STAC Zero Trainer - Zero noise, zero tire contact, zero moving parts. Suffer in Silence starting fall 2016

Re: Made a complete (250 data points) chart from the Watts->Speed thread [AHare] [ In reply to ]

Aug 12, 12 12:05

Post #7 of 17 (9955 views)

AHare wrote:

I'm not sure if race distance would change that much - if I generate 4W/kg for 10km, I should have about the same speed as if I generated it for 100km.

There would be some differences - more/less u-turns and corners, maybe latex tubes deflating slightly, rider fatigue degrading your position, but in general efficiency should be about constant as distance increases.

Assuming all out efforts, no one can put out same watts for 180K that they would for 10K. I think that's The Rhino's point. Obv the 10K wattage >> 180K wattage.

"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Re: Made a complete (250 data points) chart from the Watts->Speed thread [ericmulk] [ In reply to ]

Aug 12, 12 12:06

Post #8 of 17 (9951 views)

Correct - but the person that slowed down for 180k would show up at a different spot on the chart, so the overall shape of the chart wouldn't be affected. They might be a (3W/kg, 22mph) dot for 180km, and (4W/kg, 25mph) for 10km for example.

STAC Zero Trainer - Zero noise, zero tire contact, zero moving parts. Suffer in Silence starting fall 2016

Re: Made a complete (250 data points) chart from the Watts->Speed thread [TheBeek] [ In reply to ]

Aug 12, 12 12:14

Post #9 of 17 (9928 views)

TheBeek wrote:

AHare wrote:

, skinny people can go really fast on relatively fewer watts,

This is exactly why body composition should be at the top of your list if you want to go fast. You can get as much benefit from losing those last five pounds as you would get from years of training

I try to tell people this all the time and I always hear the same crap. I have more power at 180lbs than I do at 165lbs. The truth is those 15lbs are hard to lose and they don't want to admit they don't want to do the work.

Re: Made a complete (250 data points) chart from the Watts->Speed thread [AHare] [ In reply to ]

Aug 12, 12 12:17

Post #10 of 17 (9920 views)

AHare wrote:

Correct - but the person that slowed down for 180k would show up at a different spot on the chart, so the overall shape of the chart wouldn't be affected. They might be a (3W/kg, 22mph) dot for 180km, and (4W/kg, 25mph) for 10km for example.

Ah yes, see your point, thanks.

"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Re: Made a complete (250 data points) chart from the Watts->Speed thread [trexleradam] [ In reply to ]

Aug 12, 12 12:21

Post #11 of 17 (9911 views)

trexleradam wrote:

What's funny about this is that although there's obviously a correlation, there are huge variations: two people going about 26mph, one with less than 3.5 w/kg and one with nearly 5. Similarly people going 22-29 on the same w/kg.

The error is probably in the reporting people did.

Re: Made a complete (250 data points) chart from the Watts->Speed thread [B.McMaster] [ In reply to ]

Aug 12, 12 14:03

Post #12 of 17 (9821 views)

B.McMaster wrote:

trexleradam wrote:

What's funny about this is that although there's obviously a correlation, there are huge variations: two people going about 26mph, one with less than 3.5 w/kg and one with nearly 5. Similarly people going 22-29 on the same w/kg.

The error is probably in the reporting people did.

No doubt, but clearly W/kg is not the correct model for determining speed from watts. You really need W/CdA, which isn't as easily observable. Even then, you have differences in the hilliness of a course and the road and wind conditions can make huge differences in speed per watt.

Edit: Oh yeah, and thank you to the Op for posting this. If you could, what are the linear regression stats for the two scatter plots?

Dimond Bikes Superfan

Last edited by: ericlambi: Aug 12, 12 14:04

Re: Made a complete (250 data points) chart from the Watts->Speed thread [AHare] [ In reply to ]

Aug 12, 12 14:18

Post #13 of 17 (9785 views)

Thanks for posting! I got lazy and stopped updating the data, sorry.

Shall I edit the first post in that thread to put a link to this thread?

Last edited by: matto: Aug 12, 12 14:18

Re: Made a complete (250 data points) chart from the Watts->Speed thread [matto] [ In reply to ]

Aug 12, 12 14:20

Post #14 of 17 (9780 views)

I'd say just grab all my data and leave that thread as it is (with the new screenshot). I like that thread.

STAC Zero Trainer - Zero noise, zero tire contact, zero moving parts. Suffer in Silence starting fall 2016

Re: Made a complete (250 data points) chart from the Watts->Speed thread [AHare] [ In reply to ]

Aug 12, 12 14:21

Post #15 of 17 (9777 views)

AHare wrote:

I'd say just grab all my data and leave that thread as it is (with the new screenshot). I like that thread.

Yeah we definitely don't want to have 2 threads going on.

How about I just insert your graphs into the first post?

Last edited by: matto: Aug 12, 12 14:21

Re: Made a complete (250 data points) chart from the Watts->Speed thread [matto] [ In reply to ]

Aug 12, 12 14:22

Post #16 of 17 (9769 views)

Sounds good to me.

STAC Zero Trainer - Zero noise, zero tire contact, zero moving parts. Suffer in Silence starting fall 2016

Re: Made a complete (250 data points) chart from the Watts->Speed thread [AHare] [ In reply to ]

Aug 12, 12 14:26

Post #17 of 17 (9756 views)

AHare wrote:

Sounds good to me.

Done!

Our Partners

transition-DOT-area-AT-slowtwitch-DOT-com

Advertise with us

©1999-2024 Slowtwitch, Inc., and Slowtwitch.com
Reproduction of material from any Slowtwitch.com page
without written permission is strictly prohibited.